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1993-05-03
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PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 10, 1990
NASA's Galileo spacecraft completed the first major
milestone in its gravity-assisted flight to Jupiter late
Friday night and early Saturday morning, Feb. 10, when it
flew a carefully designed course close to the planet Venus.
Closest approach, about 10,000 miles above the
surface, 41 degrees south of Venus's equator, came as planned
one minute before 1 a.m. EST on Saturday (10 p.m.PST Friday).
This moment was the midpoint of a four-hour period in which
the planet's gravity increased Galileo's speed by almost
5,000 mph.
"This is why the spacecraft came to Venus," said
Project Manager Richard Spehalski. "It went really well."
Two more gravity assists, both from planet Earth,
lie ahead for Galileo before it has enough velocity to reach
Jupiter, its ultimate scientific objective.
While it is near Venus, Galileo turned its
scientific instruments, designed to observe Jupiter, its
satellites and environment, toward the hot, cloudy world
which is closest to Earth. Scientists watched as telemetry
showed sensors being switched on and off and pointed in
programmed directions, and the data being recorded on tape.
Galileo's experimenters must wait until much later this year,
when the spacecraft is close enough to Earth to play back the
tape through its low-gain antenna, to analyze the data.
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